A Date to the Ball
by Earendil Eldar
Summary: Jack usually declines invitations to military balls, but decides to go if Ianto will accompany him.


Jack glanced up from the file he was trying to force himself to concentrate on and promptly shoved it aside to make room for Ianto and the cup of coffee he was bearing. "That is exactly what I needed," Jack grinned, reaching up to get a kiss to sweeten his coffee.

"I know," Ianto smirked. Jack wasn't exactly difficult to read. "There's some post for you as well."

Jack frowned. "I thought it was supposed to be biscuits or cake with coffee. Not post."

"If you're a good lad and open all your letters, I'll give you an extra biscuit after dinner."

Jack tried not to look too hopeful. "Could I have something else extra instead?"

"We'll see," Ianto smirked.

Jack wasted no time in picking up the letters, adverts, and bills Ianto had brought in. They were mostly adverts and easily dispatched to the circular file. A couple bills Jack tucked into his checkbook. That left just a letter, or card if the size of the envelope was any indication. That was rather unusual, so Jack opened it with a mixture of caution and curiosity.

 _You are cordially invited…._

Jack groaned. "Can you respond with my regrets?" he asked Ianto, handing him the envelope.

Ianto glanced at the card inside. "You never accept invitations. Why not go? You're not exactly antisocial."

"Because the odds of the world not ending on any given evening are practically nil when your name happens to be Captain Jack Harkness."

Ianto sighed. "How long are you going to keep convincing yourself that you are the only one who can manage any of it? Why even have a team? Just for tech support?"

"Of course not, Ianto. You know I don't feel that way about it. But I have a duty…."

"And you more than discharge it. Have a night off, for once."

"You sound eager to get me out of here," Jack grumbled.

"I'm eager to see you give yourself a break. There's only so much coffee and an extra biscuit can do, you know. Even if it is my coffee. If you wouldn't enjoy going to this, fine, but take the night anyway and go do something you would enjoy."

Jack looked at Ianto for a minute. "You're telling me I need to 'get out of the house'."

"I am a bit," Ianto shrugged. "You know, Jack, you're always telling Gwen to hold onto her personal life, but then you prove her right when she says none of us 'get' having a life away from work. You don't have to have a 'personal life' ready-made before coming in here, Jack."

"Yeah. I've tried 'personal life', Ianto. It doesn't tend to work well for me. The best I can hope for is mixing some personal into my career."

Ianto gave Jack a sad smile. "I don't believe that for a minute," he said quietly, leaning in to kiss Jack's cheek before getting up to clear their mugs.

Sometimes, it hurt how much Ianto believed in Jack. He tried to tell himself it was because Ianto was so young, but Jack knew that wasn't true. Ianto's youth was not matched by his maturity and worldliness; he was an incredible judge of character who Jack trusted more than he had anyone else in a very long time.

"Ianto?" Jack called to him just before he started down the stairs.

Ianto took a step back and looked around the doorway attentively.

"If I go… would you be my date?"

Ianto opened his mouth to say something, but stopped. "As long as I know what to wear," he decided on, then hurried back down to his coffee kitchen.

* * *

Jack had decided if they were going to do it, then they were going to do it all the way. He would pick Ianto up at his flat like a proper date. And he _definitely_ wouldn't feel remotely nervous walking up to his door in his dress uniform which Ianto had never seen him in (except, perhaps, in some archival photos).

When Ianto opened the door in his immaculate, satin-trimmed dinner suit, Jack's eyes widened and he took a deep breath. Ianto's eyes were just as wide as Jack's, seeing him in that smart blue formal uniform. Jack was handsome enough every day, putting him in that uniform just put him into the category of 'utterly devastating.' Ianto was so charmed by being on the arm his gorgeous Captain all evening that he didn't really register that they earned more than a few looks through the evening – even if most of those 'looks' were because they made such a mouthwatering couple.

By the end of the evening, which was lovely if a bit overly-ceremonial in Ianto's opinion, Ianto's distraction had grown to being less because of Jack's charm, and more because he wanted to shag Jack senseless in that uniform the first opportunity he got.

"Shall we head back for a nightcap?" Ianto suggested, finishing off his after-dinner coffee.

"Alright by me," Jack smiled.

The entire drive back, Ianto kept stealing glances at the handsome Captain. It was giving him ideas…. As soon as Jack had the SUV turned off in the carpark, Ianto pulled Jack into a long kiss that included some deft work on Jack's uniform buttons. The smell of Jack's soap and his bleached-white shirt, combining with that kick of 51st century pheromones as Ianto's fingers worked lower was intoxicating.

Jack had absolutely no idea what had got into Ianto, but he wasn't about to protest. Ianto Jones, ordinarily as proper as could be, stripping him of his uniform in the front seat of the SUV? Jack decided maybe he should find excuses to dress up a little more often if this was the result.

By the time Ianto had Jack's trousers undone, he decided that this operation required a bit more space. Reclining his seat, he slid back, shifting into the backseat and unbuttoning his own trousers while he waited for Jack's sex-saturated brain to catch up.

"Wow," Jack breathed, scarcely able to believe it. After a moment, he took the same route that Ianto had, then maneuvered the seat forward again to give them room to work. He had barely sat back, grinning, but he found himself with a very aroused young Welshman straddling him.

Ianto cradled Jack's neck and cheek, going in for another searing kiss. "I want you right now, Captain," Ianto husked.

"You can have me any way you want me," Jack breathed, stroking his hands down Ianto's back to cup and squeeze his bum.

Worked up as they both were, it didn't exactly take much, but it was fun and exciting nonetheless. Taking them both in hand, Ianto made short work of the first order of business before relaxing a bit and resting his forehead on Jack's broad shoulder.

"That was bloody hot," he laughed after a few moments.

"No kidding!" Jack snickered. "Just when I think I know you…."

"No idea what got into me," Ianto admitted. "Though, I know what I want to get into me… if you're up for a second round."

"You have to ask?" Jack said eagerly. "Except, maybe this one we can move to a more commodious venue? Not that I'm complaining about this in the least."

"No, we should move. After we straighten up a bit. I think I practically tore that uniform off you."

"I always figured you for a bit of a uniform kink. We should have played this game a long, long time ago!"

Ianto glanced sideways at Jack. "I'll get out my UNIT cap as soon as we get upstairs," he said with a broad grin.


End file.
